Dress-shield.



W. H. SIMMONS.

DRESS SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1908.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908,

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WILLIAM HENRY SIMMONS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRE SS-SHIE LD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

Application filed April 6, 1908. Serial No. 425,297.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY SIM- MONS, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of the cit-y, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dress-Shields, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is, in a dress shield, to provide efiicientmeans for absorbing the perspiration, without effectively increasing thebulk or warmth of the shield.

To this end, the invention consists in a dress shield, comprising twowings of customary shape, each of which consists of a pervious outerlayer, a substantially impervious inner layer, and a narrow strip of absorbent material secured between the layers, extending from one uppercorner of the wings around the lateral and lower margins thereof to theother upper corner.

Heretofore, one of the difliculties with dress shields has been therunning over of the perspiration, not only from the lower marginalregions, but also very largely from the lateral marginal regionsadjacent the upper corners; the result being staining of the clothing togreater or less degree. To correct this defect, the outer layer of theshield has been made of absorbent material, or a sheet of absorbentmaterial has been placed between an outer pervious layer and an innerimpervious layer; but both these constructions so add to the thicknessand warmth of the shield, that there is more loss than gain in thematter of preventing staining of the clothing. Another constructionheretofore proposed is one in which a comparatively broad segmentalabsorbent piece is placed between pervious and impervious layers; but inthis case the segmental piece occupies too much of the area of theshield, and, most important, terminates at both ends considerably shortofthe upper corners of the shield. As I have already stated,perspiration runs over, not only from the lower marginal regions of theordinary shields, but also to large extent from the upper lateralmarginal regions adjacent the corners. As a matter of fact, there isapeculiar tendency for perspiration to run out into the clothing fromthese regions. This tendency is due in part to the swinging of the arm,which, as it were, pumps the moisture off the lateral mar ins of theshield at the corners, and in part to the folding-over of the corners,which so often occurs and which induces an extra flow of perspiration atthese regions. According to this invention, the absorbent material is inthe form of a narrow strip or trap extending around the lower andlateral marginal regions from one upper corner to the other, whereby theperspiration passes through the outer pervious layer, spreads over theimpervious layer, and is trapped by the strip. Of course, while I referto the absorbent trap as a marginal strip, it will be understood that itis not necessarily of any particular form, or necessarily securedimmediately between the edges of the layers; the important thing beingthat the absorbent material be restricted to a region at or near themargins, so that the major portion of the shield has neither increasedthickness nor increased warmth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of a shield embodying myinvention, showing the pervious outer layer torn away in two places toreveal the absorbent trap; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1;Fig. 8 is a similar section, showing the invention applied to adifierent style of shield, known asthe double cover shield; and Fig. 4is a fractional sectional view, showing a' conventionalizedrepresentation of a fabric for the inner impervious layer.

In Fig. 1, showing a single cover shield, a, a, indicate the two wingsof the shield; 1 the outer layer of each wing, which may be of thesheerest nainsook or silk, or any other desired pervious material; and 2the inner layer, consisting of a textile backing 3 with a facing 4 ofrubber or rubber c0mposition, or any waterproof or perspirationproofmaterial. 5 is a folded binding strip, which embraces the lateral andlower edges of the layers 1 and 2, and 6 the stitching passing throughthe binding and the layers. These parts will be recognized as those ofan ordinary shield, except that it has not been practicable heretoforeto make the layer 1 of such sheer material as my improved constructionenables me to use if I so desire.

In Fig. 3, showing a double cover shield, the layer 1 may be as in Figs.1 and 2; while the inner layer 2* may be a sheet of rubber, and aninmost layer or cover 2* of suitable cloth is provided. These parts,also, will be recognized as customary. These two forms of shield areillustrated to emphasize the fact that the improvement constituting thepresent invention is not restricted in its applicability to any onestyle of shield. It will be observed that, in both of the formsillustrated, there is a pervious outer layer and a substantiallyimpervious inner layer. I Wish it to be understood that this imperviouslayer may be of any material or materials suitable tor preventing thepassage of perspiration therethrough. In the various makes of shield onthe market there is a wide range of such materials.

Coming now to the present improvement, the numeral 7, in all the views,indicates the narrow marginal absorbent trap, which eX- tends fromcorner to corner of each wing of the shield and which is preferably inthe form of a curved strip secured between the marginal regions of thepervious outer layer and the impervious inner layer, by the stitching 6.This trap may be of any suitable absorbent material, such as, forinstance, fine French flannel. The absorbent trap, thus, lies againstthe face of the impervious layer, at or near the lower and lateralmarginal region thereof, so that it is adapted to catch the moisturethat otherwise might drip and run over the edge of the shield. It willbe noted that the absorbent trap occupies but a very small portion ofthe interior of the shield; so that the thickness, and consequentwarmth, of the article are not noticeably increased.

W hat I claim as new is:

A dress shield, comprising two wings of customaryshape, each of whichconsists of a pervious outer layer, a substantially impervious innerlayer, and a narrow strip of absorbent material secured between thelayers. extending from one upper corner of the wing around the lateraland lower margins thereof to the other upper corner.

Signed at New York, N. Y. this 3d day of April 1908.

WILLIAM HENRY SIMMONS.

lVit-nesses E. VAN WVAGNER, J. F. BRANDENBURG.

